Review: Kate Bush Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London 02/09/2014

Picture from The Mirror

If I'm honest, I didn't really know what to expect from the Kate Bush gig - I'm used to small, dingy venues where everyone is squished together and there's a constant argy-bargy to get to the front, so the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith was a bit of a change. I also had no idea what to expect from the show itself; nothing prepared me for Kate's performance.

When she walked on, everyone was on their feet, clapping and cheering. There were so many people there, with a variety of age, gender, race and sexuality; it was so communal and so wonderful to be in a versatile sea of people, all enjoying the same astounding woman on the stage. I especially loved that she came out with no shoes on.

Before the Dawn wasn't just a concert, it was a whole stage show, with a running theme and a storyline, stunning theatrics and costumes, and of course, fantastic music. The only old song she sung was Running Up That Hill, and the whole venue just about lost their minds when we heard the opening bars. Her new songs are still brilliant, though; they're somewhat different from her most well-known songs, but the essential Kate Bush style is still there. And her voice is unbelievable - it filled the Apollo effortlessly, and sent chills down my spine.

Another nice surprise was the performance of Kate's son, Bertie. His singing was lovely to listen to, his acting was convincing and very funny at times, and I've since found out that he was responsible for a lot of the mad footage that happened in the background for the majority of the show. He's so young, but he has clearly inherited his mum's kooky creativity and talent, and it was infinitely clear how proud Kate is of him.

Overall, the show was dark and strange and utterly captivating - Kate Bush definitely did not disappoint. She drifted around the stage in her floaty dress, looking just as ethereal as she ever did, and thanked the audience so many times throughout the show. I wanted to thank her for giving us such a great show, and for being so brave and facing such a huge audience after not performing for 35 years.

Walking out of the venue and looking around, I could see everyone beaming and talking about their favourite parts of the show; the atmosphere was so positive and everyone was happy and excited. Caz and I were grinning our heads off for the rest of the night - it was so worth it.